Friday, January 09, 2009

Paying My Authors

I just finished writing over $1,600 in annual royalty checks to the authors whose books I've published through my Zarahemla Books enterprise. While this puts a big dent in the Zarahemla checking account, it's fun to actually pay people for their writing. 

The big winner for 2008 was definitely Doug Thayer, who received over $1,000 in royalties for Hooligan: A Mormon Boyhood, which has now sold over 1,700 copies since I published it in 2007. In contrast, I personally received about $30 in royalties for my novel Kindred Spirits, which has now sold a grand total of 93 copies since publication. And you know what? That sounds just fine to me, definitely worth having written it.

I may do a more detailed annual report on Zarahemla soon, but I am too busy at both work and home to do it now. January is shaping up to be a hellishly busy month, and February isn't looking much better as far as having too much freelance work and too many kids. But hey—at least I have good income! There were layoffs at my day job today, so I'm feeling grateful to still have a regular salary.

3 comments:

Yates said...

Bigsy,

Stand tall and face our corporate layoffs with no fear. There was a study conducted by a psychology professor at Duke University that showed 9 out of 10 HR Departments retained workers who reminded them of Burl Ives.

Anonymous said...

Concerning your publishing house, I was wondering if you are still accepting submissions? I attempted to send a query via the address on the website, but my email was bouced back to me. Is there an alternate address for submitting, or are you currently closed? Any information is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Margie

Christopher Bigelow said...

Thanks for letting me know. My e-mail box was full. Could you please try another e-mail to that address to help me test it?

As far as submission, we do technically still accept them, but frankly these days I'm busy publishing mostly stuff by people whose work I'm already familiar with. It's pretty unusual for something unknown to attract enough attention.

If you do submit, please note that we do not send rejections; we reply only if and when we would like to pursue your project further, at which time you can inform us if your project is still available.

In other words, don't hold your breath, and feel free to keep marketing your project elsewhere!